What is mood swings during pregnancy? Is it common to have mood swings during pregnancy? Is it normal to get depressed during pregnancy? I know all these questions must be popping up in your mind. Don’t freak out. Just relax.
Mood swing (R) during pregnancy is very common. This is due to a lot of physical changes that go around in the body during the term of the pregnancy.
Well, by the end of the article, you will get to know the causes behind the mood swings during pregnancy and the ways to deal with it. So, just scroll down the article and find out the various ways mentioned.
What Causes Mood Swing During Pregnancy:
As I said above, there are a lot of changes that take place during the phase of pregnancy, both physical and mentally. Some of the reasons for the anger and mood swings during pregnancy are as follows-
1. Hormonal Fluctuation
This is one of the probable causes of mood swings during pregnancy. It all depends upon the level of pregnancy hormones such as progesterone and estrogen which spike all of a sudden.
This, as a result, can lead to anxiety, sadness, fear, and frustration, and depression in pregnant women.
2. Extreme Tiredness and Morning Sickness
Well, as we all know that tiredness and morning sickness are the two major symptoms of pregnancy. It is observed during the first and second trimesters and can be a contributing factor towards the irritability and mood swings.
Pregnant women get to have a mix of emotions, such as forgetfulness, moodiness, and anxiety.
3. Lack Of Sleep:
The lack of sleep happens due to the growing belly and other physical, hormonal, mental, emotional changes that occur during pregnancy. Insufficient sleep makes one irritable and leads to angry mood swings during pregnancy.
4. Health Condition:
This is another primary cause behind mood swings during pregnancy. The health condition such as hypothyroidism, gestational diabetes, etc. leads to this issue in pregnant women.
This is directly related to anxiety, sadness, fear, and frustration, which can lead to depression also.
5. Hormones
Hormonal changes are one of the major causes behind anger and mood swings during pregnancy. Due to the fatigue, it affects the metabolism rate or the progesterone and estrogen levels in the body.
The hormone levels affect the level of neurotransmitters which are responsible for transporting brain chemicals to regulate mood.
When Do You Start Getting Mood Swings During Pregnancy?
As per the studies and research, the mood swings are most commonly experienced during the first trimester of the pregnancy. It is around 6 to 10 weeks that you start experiencing them.
After that, again in the third trimester when the body is prepared for the delivery of the baby, the mother gets to experience mood swings.
How To Deal With Mood Swings During Pregnancy?
Well, there are various ways to overcome mood swings during pregnancy. Some of the ways to deal with mood swings during pregnancy include-
1. Talk It Through:
It is regarded as one of the best ways to deal with mood swings during pregnancy. It is best to talk to someone around you whenever you feel low or stressed. Just be clear about the feelings you carry at that time and confess the same to your partner, friends, and family.
You can take support and advice from fellow mums-to-be. You need to talk to the close ones with confidentially and in a brave way where you can put your words in proper form.
2. Get Plenty Rest:
Another best way to overcome mood swings during pregnancy is getting plenty of rest. This is because it is harder to manage the moods if you’re tired.
The more you take rest, the more you are free from mood swings during pregnancy. So, it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough sleep during pregnancy. It can even be a short nap whenever you can sneak one in.
3. Make Time For Fun:
This really works great to get rid of mood swings during pregnancy. You should always do some things that will help to take your mind off your pregnancy changes with respect to mental and physical well being.
For this, you can have some personal time for you and do whatever you like to do. Have some fun time for you and do whatever you like the most and feel happy about.
4. Do Some Gentle Exercise:
Exercise has a number of benefits on an individual’s health. It really helps to lighten up your mood. There are a lot of exercises that lighten up your mood. The workout also increases the flow of the chemicals around in the brain better, thus bettering the mood even more so.
The fresh air can even make you feel better. Simply walk around the garden in the house or the park nearby to get a boost to your mood.
5. Bond With Your Partner:
It is said that you are bound to lash out more on the people that you love more. We feel loved and safe enough around our partner. There is certain evidence that suggests that it is difficult to figure out what kind of emotion you are going through during the pregnancy.
Sometimes the situation becomes unpredictable. It becomes so difficult to understand one another about how you feel for each other which can often lead to certain mood swings during pregnancy.
6. Stop Feeling Guilty:
As we all know that pregnancy is a life changing event. There will be ample number of situations where you will feel overwhelmed, irritable and anxious.
It is necessary to accept the reality and negative feelings around you and always surrounding yourself with good feelings.
8. Be Patient With Yourself:
This works wonder in dealing with mood swings during pregnancy. It is very important to remember how you feel with people and find ways to ensure that you don’t feel lonely through the process.
This is just a temporary phase of change. It will go in the course of time. So, have patience and don’t worry about it much.
9. Put Down The Fear-Based Pregnancy Books
This is one of the major steps that you have to do in order to overcome mood swings during pregnancy. This will really help you have a healthy pregnancy. Just try to avoid reading pregnancy books that tell you about the fear around prenatal care, diet, and upcoming birth.
Rather than reading such books, you should find something more positive, or you can directly ask your doctor regarding what to do at what stage of pregnancy.
10. Try Yoga Or Medication:
Yoga and meditation help to reduce anxiety and increase feelings of well-being. We all know the importance of yoga and meditation in one’s life. There are many yoga exercises that you can do while you are pregnant and that will keep you’re your body and mind healthy.
Talk to the yoga instructor before you opt for any form of yoga. According to a study, yoga and meditation practices during pregnancy can help reduce the symptoms of depression. (R)
[Read: Best Yoga Postures for Pregnant Women]
11. Manage Your Stress:
This is another major way to deal with mood swings during pregnancy. Try to manage your stress rather than letting the frustration win over. It is always better to build up and find ways to decompress.
This can be done by getting plenty of sleep, eating well, exercising, and have some fun time as I mentioned above. You can do yoga and meditation in order to feel better and keep yourself away from stress.
12. Take It Easy:
Pregnancy is completely a natural process. So, you have to control the constant stress and anxiousness that comes with the delivery of a baby. Just go with the flow and take things as they come.
13. Avoid Caffeine, Alcohol, and Sugar:
This stimulant and depressant affect the mood swing of women during pregnancy. The caffeine makes one feel fatigued and leads to anxiety and nervousness.
The presence of sugar foods causes mood swings and makes you behave irrationally. Make sure you cut down all these foods to boost your mood during the span of pregnancy.
14. Try Calcium Supplements:
There are many studies (R) that tell that calcium supplements help a lot to ease the symptoms of anger, frustration, and other emotional fluctuations.
The calcium supplements help a lot to protect the bones from the deterioration and this is important for the perimenopausal women.
Mood swing during pregnancy is very common. This is due to the physical changes that go inside the body of a pregnant woman. It will go away with the course of time. I hope this article has given you good ideas to overcome mood swings during pregnancy.
